Gyroscopic top.



ALBERT B. BLY, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

GYROSCOLEIC TOP.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented April 14, 1908.

Application filed May 21, 1907. Serial N 0. 374,931.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. BLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Gyroscopic Top, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide improved means for imparting rotary motion to a top, said means consisting'of blades so arranged that when a current of wind is di-' rected upon them, they will be forced to the position required for giving a rotary motion to the top, and when the current of wind is stopped, the blades will automatically return to a position in line with the plane of rotation of the top, so that said blades will not tend to retard the rotary movement of the top.

My object is further to provide improved means for ap lying a current of air direct to the ropeller lades of the top.

y invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an enlarged detail view of a part of a rotating wheel of a to and its axle, showing the flexible propeller b ades therein, and the deflector for directing a current of air to the blades. The dotted lines in said figure show the blades in the positions they assume when a current of air is directed toward them. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of a gyrating top having my improvement applied thereto, art of the air tube being broken away to siiow the axle and deflector. Fig. 3 shows a'plan view of the top embodying my invention, and Fig. 4 shows a plan view of the rotating wheel, with the propeller blades in position.

Referring to the accompanyin drawings, I have used the reference numera 10 to indicate the rim of the rotating wheel, said rim having a series of spokes 11. Inserted in each spoke near its central portion is a resilient propeller blade 12, having its outline of segmental shape, one of its straight edges being inserted in a slot 13 formed in the s oke 11, and the other straight edge and tile outer circumference bein free. I have found that thin sheets of ce uloid are well ada ted for the material for these ro eller bladbs, as their free edges will yiel w en a current of air is directed upon them, and they will return to normal position when the current of air is stopped. The wheel 10 is fixed to an axle 14, which axle is rotatably mounted in the oval rim 15. I provide for adjusting the axle 14 within the oval rim 15 y means of a screw threaded rod 16, passed through the rim 15 and seated therein, and provided with a disk 17, by which it may be turned in the rim 15. The end of the rod 16 opposite from the end seated in the rim 15, is pointed, and inserted in the adjacent end of the axle 14.

Formed on the axle 14 adjacent to one side of the spokes 11 is a cone shaped deflector 18, and mounted upon the rim 15, surrounding the deflector 18, is a tube 19 having its one end adjacent to the base of the cone 18, and spaced a art therefrom, and its other end projects eyond the rim 15, to serve as a mouth piece and handle.

In practical use, the operator gras s either the tube 19 or the rim 15, and p aces his mouth against the outer end of the tube, and then by blowing into the tube, a current of air is forced against each of the propeller blades 12 causing their free portions to bend downwardly as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, so that they stand in about the position of the blades of a wind wheel. Obviously, the current thus ap lied will impart a rotary motion to the wheel 12. This may be continued until the wheel 12 attains the desired momentum, then when the operator ceases blowing into the tube 19, the springing blades 12 will automatically return to position in line with the spokes of the wheel 10, and hence they will not retard the rotation of the whee One of the material advantages in connection with propelling a top in this manner, is that when the momentum of the wheel 10 is decreased to such an extent that it almost stops, the operator may withoutpermitting the wheel to stop, blow into the tube 19 and thus accelerate the motion of the wheel 10, thus by intermittently applying air to the tube 19, the top may be ke t spinning for an indefinite time. Anotl fer very desirable feature is that the propeller blades automatically return to position parallel with the wheel 10, so that they do not in any way retard the pro ress of said wheel after the operator ceases bIowing upon them.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, therefor, is-

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatable Wheel, and a series of yielding blades connected with the wheel, normally standing in the same plane as the Wheel, and capable of having their free edges inclined to position for serving as propeller blades When currents of air are directed upon them.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatablewheel, comprising a rim and spokes, and a series of yielding blades, each having one edge fixed to a spoke, and the other edge free, each blade normally lying arallel with the rim of the wheel, and ca ab e of being inclined to position for prope ling the Wheel when currents of air are applied to them.

3. The combination with a gyrating top having a rotatable Wheel comprising a rim and spokes, an axle on which the Wheel is mounted, and a frame in which the axle is mounted, of a series of yielding propeller blades fixed to the spokes of the Wheel, and normally lying in the same plane as the Wheel, and capable of having their free edges inclined in the direction required for proelling the wheel when currents of air are applied to them, and a tube supported by the frame, with one end adjacent to the propeller blades.

4. The combination with a gyrating top having a rotatable wheel comprising a rim and spokes, mounted, and a frame in which the axle is mounted, of a series of yielding propeller blades fixed to the spokes of the wheel, and normally lying in the same plane as the wheel, and capable of having their free edges inclined in the direction required for propelling the wheel when currents of air are applied to them, and a tube supported by the frame, with one end adjacent to the pro- )eller blades, and a cone shaped delleetor i fixed to the axle of the rotatab e wheel and contained within the end of said tube adjacent to the propeller blades.

Des Moines, lowa, May 15, 1907.

ALBERT B. BlJY.

Witnesses: V

S. F. Cnnrsrr, RALPH Onwre.

an axle on which the wheel is 

